


A Blue CatAstrophe!

by TokyoTeddyWolf



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Also im ignoring canon in favor of shance thanks, Brief Mentions of Blood, Cat AU, Fluff, Graphic descriptions, Kitten!Lance, Kitty Lance is a lil shit sometimes, Lance becomes a cat, Langst, M/M, Mama Blue Lion, Pidge and Lance brotp, Several chapters have been edited!, Shiro is a wreck and blames himself, Shiro never died in season two thanks, and everyone thinks he's been kidnapped, catboy Lance as of ch.8, i need to stop, or killed, ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-10 23:05:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10449591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TokyoTeddyWolf/pseuds/TokyoTeddyWolf
Summary: Lance isn't missing, he's right there. It was an accident, how he'd ended up 'missing', but Blue said that there should be some cure for this. He wished he was human again, so he could comfort his team with the knowledge that he wasn't dead. But no, he's a cat, and the only way to make sure they smile is to knock all the pens to the ground, chase some string, and occasionally wake up his crush and idol up from a nightmare and almost get smacked across the room by accident. Well, okay, that last one had to be mended since he was apparently a good stress reliever if you ran your hands down his back... too bad it wouldn't happen if he was a human. So, for now, he'll deal with being a brown and darker brown swirled tabby kitten for just a little bit longer. Purrrrrrrr.....





	1. The Beginning Of The Trauma

“ _Well, maybe you should go find a seriouser Blue Paladin who's more useful than I am, Shiro!”_

 

Lance gunned Blue's engines, rocketing away from the Castle and across the planet they were currently trying to form an alliance with, away from the city and away from the boiling argument he'd just had with the Black Paladin. Blue nearly broke the sound barrier with the speed they were flying at, but Lance just had to get _away_.

He couldn't stand seeing that angry look on Shiro's face. The one that was usually filled with fond amusement or from determination during battle or meetings. He couldn't get it out of his head, the fight they'd had during the strategy meeting on the diplomatic approach to the alien colony down below.

He'd just wanted to go down with the team that was to speak with the city leader, but Shiro had told him that he would be better elsewhere, away from the city's diplomats.

He'd asked why, and got a “Because we can't have you flirting with the wrong alien and ruin the chance for an alliance, Lance.” in return. Of course, he'd tried to say that he could be diplomatic when he wanted, only to be rebuffed because he was “the joker of the group” and his type of people skills weren't exactly helpful in this situation.

Lance, having become tired and increasingly frustrated during the past year they'd been in space, finally blew up at his former hero. He was so sick of always being pushed aside in favor of someone else. Tired of trying to help only to be scorned and grumbled at, tired of trying to keep up the fake act of being happy and trying to cheer up the others, tired of being nobody special like the others.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he'd bolted for Blue's hangar, not noticing the shocked and stunned faces of his team and the Alteans he left behind in that hologram lit room.

Blue growled in concern, and he finally landed her in a field of giant green and gray flowers that towered over the Voltron Lion. He stumbled out of the cockpit and in a fit of childish anger, roundhouse kicked one of the large green flower trees. He threw back his head and screamed in frustration, the stress that had built up and torn into his chest bubbling up and bleeding out into his voice. He punched the nearest tree, barely registering the pale golden silver dust filtering down from the overhead petals and getting into his hair, giving it a faintly glowing sheen.

“ _Why?!?_ Why am I not _good enough?!?_ ” He wailed, punching the tree over and over, tipping his head against it and furiously fighting back tears. Blue rumbled, worried for her Paladin. Lance didn't hear it that well, but as the anger and frustration faded into sadness, he suddenly realized it was getting really hard to breathe, and that the air felt oddly dry and dusty for some reason.

Coughing, he pulled up his arm to rub at the strange, almost gritty feeling on the back of his neck, and noticed that his jacket was covered in pale, fine dust that shimmered in the white light of the overhead sun. Right. He wasn't in Paladin armor because the planet had breathable air.

Ha. Breathable air? Lance was choking on the... sudden _burning_... in his throat… oh _shit._

Gasping, Lance stumbled away from the tree he'd been banging his bleeding fist on and began clawing at his throat, trying to hack up the fireball currently traveling down his windpipe and into his lungs, where it got even _worse._ He screamed, this time in agony, as his whole body felt like it was on fire. Blue roared in panic, activating her ice cannon and freezing the offending plant and surrounding area, covering everything within a ten mile radius with ice.

Lance stumbled and slid, collapsing onto the ground and convulsing, tears streaming down his face as he burned alive, feeling his bones bake and his blood boil under his skin, and the last thing he remembered before blacking out were the screams of Blue as she scooped him up and activated her particle barrier, trying to filter out the air and get him breathing again.

* * *

 

He woke up and regretted it, as everything ached and throbbed dully. He let out a soft, pained noise in the back of his throat and curled up tighter on the chair he had somehow landed on during the black, fuzzy haze from when Blue had tried to help him. He heard loud noises from outside, and felt the entire cockpit shake as something had picked them up and was moving them somewhere. His body felt strange and out of place, and way too small. He flattened his ears back as another achingly loud sound echoed outside his Lion, tail twitching over his paws as he flattened his eats down… wait. That did _not_ seem right _at all_.

He didn't have a tail or paws, nor did his ears move. They weren't supposed to move. Blue purred with relief at the fact that he was awake, but rumbled with concern as she sent him a mental image of what he'd become.

Soft, dark brown fur with lighter brown stripes, with ears, paws and tail tip colored light cream. Pretty blue eyes with slitted irises and four light brown spots lining under his eyes, swirls on his back like a river. A small black nose and long white whiskers. Lance flinched. That shimmery dusty air had turned him into a _cat?!?_

No _wonder_ he felt wrong in his own body, like he should be bigger but had been stuffed into a too small jacket, or that his body felt oddly off balance yet not, since he was used to two legs and not four.

Blue rumbled and showed him an image of Black and Yellow towing Blue back to the Castle, and how they were currently setting them down in the Blue Hangar. Lance curled in on himself, his clothes having been shredded during his violent transformation and ruined with blood that had been squeezed out from his rearranging body, and trembled in his seat.

 _ **“I don't want to be seen like this.”**_ He thought, panicking. Blue, acknowledging her Paladin's wish, kept her barrier up and her jaw locked, even as Black growled at her to open up.

Lance could see Hunk and Shiro out of Blue's monitors down below, Keith and Pidge also appearing to stand below Blue's jaw, all looking very worried. He snorted. They wouldn't find him in Blue. Well, not his human self anyways. He registered Black's commanding growl, and Blue struggling not to bow down to her leader.

“ _Not here, not here. My Paladin is no longer here, not as he used to be.”_ Blue whispered mournfully to her sisters, mind linking them the blood splattered cockpit and shredded clothes, and the tiny, fluffy body in her Paladin's seat, trembling and scared.

Black immediately ceased growling, and instead rumbled with worry, as the other Paladins all jumped or flinched, startled by whatever their Lions were sending them, and then Shiro began banging on Blue's barrier, frantically calling for Lance. Hunk looked almost sick, Pidge seemed like she was about to cry, and Keith was clenching his fists and tapping his foot against the ground.

Blue, feeling guilty that she couldn't have stopped Lance from getting hurt, finally bent down and opened her jaw, the Paladins all hurrying inside with frantic, desperate movements. Lance hissed and slid off the seat, scrambling for a place to hide, squeezing himself into a corner under the dashboard. Blue sent him waves of soft, soothing comfort, tinged with guilt, and he sent back the thought that it wasn't her fault, they didn't know, and it was okay, but he still didn't want to be seen like this.

“Lance!” Shiro was the first to reach the pilot seat, and Lance watched from his hiding spot as a look of pure horror flooded the Black Paladin's face as he saw the blood and torn up fabric. The others had similar reactions, Hunk covering his mouth and trying not to vomit, Pidge going as pale as a sheet of ice, and Keith making a choked noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

Lance let out an involuntary mewl of grief at the sorrowful faces in front of him. He didn't think that him disappearing, possibly being dead, would have them react like this. Pidge, with her sharp hearing, looked over to where he was hiding. She moved over, and crouched down, reaching in and feeling around for him.

Lance hissed, and swatted at her hand with sheathed claws. He may havs been hiding, but he wasnt going to hurt them. The others made sounds of astonishment at the noise, and Pidge somehow got her hands around his wriggling, tiny form and pulled him out, gasps echoing in the Blue Lion as they saw Pidge holding what looked to be an Earth kitten.

Lance mewled again, wriggling around, trying to fight the tired and sore feeling in his body, but Pidge was cradling him close, and he was just exhausted from all the stress of the day, and he slowly settled into a barely awake, half alert, ears pricked state of being in his friend's warm arms.

Blue purred quietly in his mind, informing him that all would be well once he woke up, and he had nothing to fear for now. So, he drifted off, hoping that he could figure out how to turn back to normal in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //thats a wrap for chapter 1!!! next time is probably Pidge POV, instead of this weird all over the place POV i've been doing lately. Next time, kitty Lance gets tangled into things he shouldn't, and Shiro is an absolute wreck. Langst is kind of fun to write, ngl. *yawns * well, i'm going to get some sleep now, hope you enjoyed! I'm gonna go post this on AO3, too :) Night! (or morning, afternoon, whenever.)


	2. Azure Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“I was thinking about calling him Azul. I checked earlier, it's a boy. We did find him in the Blue Lion, and he's got blue eyes, and Lance was- **is** Cuban, so…”_  
>  Pidge names the kitty, and misses her blue brother.

Pidge didn't know what to make of the tiny, shorthaired kitten in her arms. She cradled it close and carried it out of Blue, and was surprised when the Lion made a growl of faint protest, but settled back down.

 _Probably misses her pilot,_ the Green Paladin mused to herself as she made her way from the hangars. Keith was attempting to console Shiro and Hunk, as both were panicking about Lance.

Pidge missed him too, he was like a brother to her. He couldn't take Matt's place, but he did try his best to treat her right, even if she snapped at him. She deflated at that thought. Maybe if she hadn't been such a brat, or had been a little more kind to him, maybe he wouldn't have blown up at the meeting this morning. If he hadn't left, maybe he'd still be around instead of missing and leaving them all worried that he could be hurt or even...

She refused to go there. There wasn't enough evidence that he was actually dead, so she had to have faith that he was alive and waiting for them. Or busting himself out like she knew he could do.

She remembered them all taking off after Lance once they'd felt the intense pain coming through the Paladin Bond, vividly recalling the fear she'd felt when they heard Blue's panicked roar as they landed on-planet, and knew something was wrong. Green had pinpointed the location and Black and Yellow took off immediately, the others close behind.

She remembered gasping and hearing the “ _Holy quiznak..._ ” from Keith over the comms as they came upon a field of blue-white snow, ice smothering rows upon rows of flowering trees, covering everything within a ten-mile radius from the center. Blue was curled up in on herself in the middle of it all, like a mother protecting a child from danger. Her particle barrier was up, too.

Pidge had to use Green's plant beam to grow vines over Blue's barrier so that Black and Yellow could tow her back to the Castle. The trip home felt long, everyone trying to contact Lance through his helmet only to be met with silence. At first, she thought his communicator was just muted.

But Blue had refused to open up once in her Hangar, even when faced with Black. She wouldn't open up, and Pidge could have sworn she almost felt _sorrow_ coming from the mechanical Lion.

 _Was Lance really that upset?_  She thought, glaring at the barrier Blue had put up against them. But then Blue's gears made a soft, hissing noise, almost like a sigh. Things went wrong immediately after that.

Black stopped growling and made a very concerning noise, and Green suddenly showed her a terrifying image; an empty, blood splattered cockpit and a ripped up, familiar jacket scattered into pieces all over the floor and a familiar voice screaming in pain. Black, Yellow and Red must have shown the others the same thing, because Shiro was calling for Lance with a desperate voice she didn't even know the Black Paladin even possessed.

The sick feeling of dread in her stomach evolved into nausea once they'd gotten inside and found that the pilot seat was exactly as it was in the image; smears and drops of blood scattered over the leathery fabric and dashboard, and Lance's jacket and clothes, torn to pieces and tossed about like confetti.

She felt her body go cold and the blood in her face drain away. _**Lance wasn't here.**_ Her brother figure was _gone._ This was almost like when Shiro had gone missing, but worse because this time they had proof that Lance was hurt during whatever had happened to him, and possibly alive because there wasn't enough blood to signify that he'd been killed.

Then she'd heard the mewing, and stepped closer to find the source, and ended up with this kitten. The poor thing seemed exhausted, already asleep and faintly purring, tucked into the crook of her arm. She traced the light brown swirls all over the tiny felines back, the soft purr she got in response was enough for her lips to tug up in a faint smile. She took it to the main control room, where Allura was waiting.

“Well? Did you find Lance?” The Princess demanded, looking faintly pale and concerned, Coran hovering nearby, which was understandable since he and Lance were very close, like a space uncle and his nephew, best friends.

Pidge shook her head sadly. “No… we found his jacket and his clothes that were all torn up...and,” She swallowed thickly around the sudden lump in her throat.

“Blood. There wasn't a lot, but there was enough to indicate he'd been pretty badly injured by whatever got to him before we did… the place where we found Blue was covered in ice. Blue didn't look hurt at all, so we don't really understand what happened other than something took Lance and Blue freaked out enough to use her ice cannon...” She explained, shifting the sleeping kitten in her arms a little.

Allura deflated visibly, Coran's face also falling into one of devastation. “So then, Lance is currently missing and we have no idea what happened other than what you have just told me… and what is that you are holding? Is that a dangerous creature, and where did you get it from?” She asked, straightening up and staring at the fluffball curiously, though it was tinged with sadness.

“Oh, it's something we have on Earth. It's a kitten, sort of like a lion but very tiny and less deadly and we keep them as pets because of how cute they are, and also because they provide comfort...” Pidge said, motioning Allura closer with her free hand and guiding the Altean's hand down the soft fur along the spine of the sleeping feline, Allura smiling softly as she felt the warm life under her palms.

Pidge noted the sound of the other Paladins entering the room behind her, and spoke up again. “I was thinking about calling him Azul. I checked earlier, it's a boy. We did find him in the Blue Lion, and he's got blue eyes, and Lance was- _is_ Cuban, so…” She trailed off as Keith moved closer, gently rubbing his finger along the base of Azul's right ear, scratching gently.

The corner of his mouth twitched up and he nodded at Pidge. “Azul… means _Blue_ in Spanish, right? I think it's a good name.” The Red Paladin murmured, still upset over the loss of his friend and teammate.

Hunk voiced agreement from behind her, and Shiro merely hummed quietly to acknowledge it. “I think we should all go get some rest. Tomorrow, we shall return to the ice field where you found the Blue Lion and try to find any clues as to where Lance could have gone.” Allura spoke, returning to General Mode.

Pidge nodded and made her way to her room, still cradling Azul. “Alright Azul, I think a quick nap is in order after today.” She whispered, smiling at the ear twitch the small kitty gave in return. She opened her door and walked over to sit on the bed, curling up around the tiny life in her arms, placed her glasses on the dresser next to her mattress, and drifted off.

* * *

 

Pidge woke up, slightly disoriented, and sat up, looking around. No kitten in sight. Then, had it been a dream…? Lance was still here, right? Making jokes and laughing and grumbling at her to go to bed after she'd been up 'til midnight working on a lead to find her lost family and-

A mew shook her out of her thoughts, and a tiny paw, the pads slightly cool and rubbery, patted her cheek from her other side. Oh. Azul had been sleeping above her head. That's why she hadn't seen him. Her face felt wet. Why did he looked worried? Could cats even worry? Wait, she was crying. That's why Azul looked so concerned.

Sniffling, she scooped up the little ball of fluff and cried into his chocolate colored fur. “I- I miss Lance.” She choked out, as Azul mewed worriedly.

She cried for a little while before settling into soft hiccups and sniffles. Azul purred in concern and butted his head against her cheek, and she smiled and ran her hands over his fur. It was soft and silky and reminded her of that one time she'd gone on a school field trip to a chocolate factory, where she'd seen factory workers mix the dark cocoa mix with milk and sugar and stirred it until it was milk chocolate, light brown and smooth.

Azul's back looked like a pot of chocolate in the middle of mixing, dark and light brown swirls all over and trailed off into straight stripes towards his middle and legs, and a pale soft brown underbelly. The cute cream colored ears and paws just added to his charm.

“I would have named you Cocoa, but Azul seemed a better choice because we found you in Blue's cockpit.” Pidge said, holding the kitten up in front of her so that her own golden brown eyes could lock onto those ocean blue ones. Azul tipped his head to the side and chirped at the Green Paladin, tail swishing. She set him down and patted around for her glasses, rubbing her eyes.

Azul jumped up on her dresser and batted the frames towards her searching hand, and she smiled gratefully at the little creature.

“Thanks Azul. I think we should see what we can feed you, since there isn't exactly any space cat food around for you to have.” She said, scooping him up and moving off towards the kitchen, where Hunk would hopefully have something for their new addition to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // im leaving this here, since chapter 3 is more Lance POV feat Shiro! Did I do okay with Pidge's POV? I hope I did. This is slightly fluffy and a lot more angsty than planned, but oh well! Hope you enjoyed~!


	3. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Lance is a cute lil fluffball, and Shiro is a wreck.

Lance thanked everything holy that Hunk had saved some of that weird space meat that tasted like turkey bacon. He crunched down on the strange yellow and brown meat, absolutely starving. Blue rumbled in amusement in the back of his mind, and flicked an ear at her in dismissal. What?!? He was hungry! She had no right to judge his new eating habits. So _there_. He mentally stuck his tongue out at her. She chuffed with laughter at him. Hmph.

Pidge and Hunk were currently chatting quietly. “Azul, slow down there kitty! You'll choke!” Pidge called, and he swished his tail to let her know that he'd heard, and slowed a little.

Right, Pidge was calling him Azul now. He was a little startled when she'd called him that, but shrugged and accepted it. Better than _Cocoa._ He _really_ didn't want to be named after a food. He didn't want to accidentally condition himself to responding to that name, lest he turn back to normal and have to stop reacting every time someone asked for cocoa. Azul it was then.

“I'm going to go back to bed. It's almost ten at night, and I really want to be able to wake up early to go look for Lance.” Pidge said, hopping off of the counter where she'd been perched while Hunk made space cookies.

“I'll keep an eye on Azul. Cats are nocturnal, so I think he'll be up for a while. I might let him explore when I go to bed in a bit. He's too small to get into anything anyways.” Hunk acknowledged the Green Paladin, spreading cookie dough in little circles on a pan. Pidge nodded and left, giving Lance one last head pat.

"Night Azul. See you in the morning, kitty.” She murmured, then exited the kitchen, dragging her feet a little tiredly.

Lance mewed a reply before finishing off his food. He licked his lips, err, muzzle, and had a sudden urge to ball up a paw and scrub his face. Never one for skipping out on hygiene, no matter how weird, so he shrugged and did so, licking his paw and scrubbing his face and ears to get the food grease off. It was admittedly adorable to watch, and he heard Hunk coo from where he was leaning against the counter waiting for his cookies to bake.

He huffed, and padded over to his friend, jumping up on the counter as the cookies were pulled from the now beeping oven. “Careful, Azul. These are really hot, so no touching.” Hunk warned, and Lance made a half mew half purring noise in reply.

 _'I'm not stupid, Buddy.'_ He thought, twitching his tail tip as Hunk put the cookies in the cooler for tomorrow.

“Goodnight, Azul! Don't get into anything while we're asleep, okay?” Hunk chirped as he ruffled Lance's neck fur, moving away to leave the kitchen. Lance meowed in response before looking around, amazed at how big everything was. He could hear more, smell more, and as the lights dimmed, see more than he could as a human, even though he'd already had impressive eyesight as a teenage boy.

With a soft chuffing noise, he hopped off the counter and stumbled, attempting to figure out how cats normally landed on their feet all the time. He tested jumping a few times, trying to get used to the feel of using his new tail and body for balance, before he deemed himself good enough to check the rest of the Castle in his new form. Nodding in satisfaction, he left the kitchen to explore.

* * *

 

_Darkness stretched out everywhere he looked. He didn't know why, but he was afraid. “Shiro.” He whirled around at that familiar voice, and gasped. Lance was standing behind him, those pretty blue eyes that were normally bright with laughter dull and blank._

_“Shiro, why?” Lance asked, the betrayal on his face tearing Shiro's heart in two._

_“Lance, I-” Shiro tried to say, but was cut off by Lance's shout._

_“Why did you let me go, Shiro?!? Was I not good enough to be a Paladin? Is that why you let me disappear?” Tears streamed down the Blue Paladin's face and suddenly he was running away again, into the darkness._

_Something told Shiro that he shouldn't go that way, that something bad would happen if he did, so he ran after Lance, reaching out and frantically calling his name as the darkness swallowed him up._

_A trail of red droplets began on the path as he kept running, bright scarlet and causing dread to well up in his chest. The drops turned into a trickle, then into a stream, and suddenly he was wading through a river of blood. He saw Lance up ahead on the ground, unmoving and covered in crimson, the river pouring from his body. Shiro screamed as a wave of red engulfed him and swept him back into the darkness._

Shiro woke up with a cry of anguish, throwing his arm out and sitting up suddenly, shaking. Gasping for air and trembling, he covered his face with his hands and fought the urge to cry.

_'His fault. All his fault. Lance was missing because of Shiro's stupidity, not realizing that Lance was hurting and thought he was only seen as the team joke. All his fault that Lance was_ _**gone** _ _. He should have done more, praised more often, smiled more, something, anything, maybe then Lance wouldn't be missing and possibly in pain or worse.'_

Something soft brushed against his human arm, and he flinched. A mewing noise had him looking over to see Azul, the kitten they'd found under Blue's dashboard, staring at him worriedly. A louder meow, and a headbutt to the wrist. Shiro reached over with his robot prosthetic and gently rubbed the kitten's forehead, mouth twitching up at the happy purr he got in response. Black was purring too, and sent him comforting vibes through their bond.

"Hey, Azul. How'd you get in here? Wasn't Hunk supposed to be watching you?" He asked, swallowing down his nightmare in an effort to calm himself down.

He pulled Azul onto his lap and used both hands to run over the fluffy spine, grounding himself in the here and now with the soft brown fur under his palms. He couldn't feel the hairs with his Galran arm, but he _could_ feel the warmth emanating from the little body currently butting his head into Shiro's stomach and purring up a storm. He chuckled and rubbed tiredly at the ache in his eyes, scratching under the kitten's chin with one human finger, exhaling shakily.

“Sorry kitten. It was just a bad dream, nothing you need to be concerned about. I'm used to it, even though this one was a bit different from the usual.” He murmured to the little fluffball, who, _he could've sworn he saw him do this,_ rolled his eyes and reared up to put his paws on Shiro's broad chest and boop his nose against the elder human's with a gentle huff.

As if to say, _'Bullshit, I know pain when I see it, you are clearly not okay.'_ Shiro blinked, startled, then started laughing quietly.

“You are quite a strange kitty, you know? A real sassy child, as Lance would say.” He chuckled, ruffling Azul's ears playfully. The kitten sneezed and shook his head cutely, before settling down and resting his head on his paws, tail tip tapping against Shiro's hip.

Shiro sighed and lay back down, mouth twitching upwards as Azul wriggled forwards to curl up on Shiro's chest, a purr vibrating in his throat and vibrating through Shiro's ribcage. Shiro listened to the gentle motor, focusing his breath and relaxing.

He didn't remember falling asleep, nor did he remember any nightmares, if there were any.

He did remember hearing Black purring along with Azul as he closed his eyes.

_"All will be well, my Paladin."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // Me: LetShiroRest2k17  
> Me to Me: yeah okay but make him suffer  
> Me: dammit  
> Shiro has a bad dream, poor baby ;^; lucky him, it's kitty Lance to the rescue! I had fun with this, oddly enough. Maybe i'm secretly a sadist? *shrugs * possibly. Oh well, next up is the team searching for Lance and Lance getting into trouble feat Allura's long, fluffy hair! :D Sorry this one seems shorter than the others....


	4. Tangles And Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some fluff and Shance to make up for all the angst of the previous chapters. We can't have complete angst, ya know? :)

Lance woke up on Shiro's chest, blearily realizing he'd stretched out during the night.

 _Oh yeah,_ he'd come in when Blue had told him Black was trying to wake Shiro up from a bad dream, and needed physical help because he was too deeply engulfed. So, he'd headed for Shiro's room at a dead run and jumped up on him, landing on his stomach and sinking in his claws in a desperate attempt to wake the Black Paladin.

Well, it had worked, because Shiro had suddenly sat up with a yelp and nearly thwacked Lance with his arm, but he'd managed to duck and roll onto the other side of the bed next to the wall before he could get thrown.

He'd practically smelled Shiro's tears, even thiugh he didn't see any, and panicked a little. He allowed his instincts to take charge, brushing his tail over Shiro's arm to get his attention, and trying to comfort the Black Paladin as best he could as a tiny kitten. The nose boop was sort of a kitty kiss, he supposed, and flushed when he thought about it. It had just seemed... _right_ , and it had made Shiro smile, so he took that for a win. Speaking of Shiro, it was nearly 7am as he glanced over to the little digital Earth clock Pidge had made for the Black Paladin, which meant-

Yup. _There_ it is. Shiro's alarm rang throughout the room, causing him to slowly stir and blink those pretty, sleepy silver eyes open. Lance mewed a good morning and walked up those firm pecs to pat Shiro's cheek with a warm paw pad. Blue rumbled with amusement at his thoughts, and he shushed her back, because it wasn't _his_ fault that Shiro was very nicely muscled. Blue laughed.

“Mm… Mornin' Azul.” Shiro muttered, reaching up with his human hand to stroke Lance's ears. _Man, that felt good._ Lance purred and leaned into the touch, tail twitching happily. He'd always been a sucker for hands in his hair as a human, and that feeling seemed to have doubled since becoming a cat.

Shiro picked him up and moved to sit upright, still rubbing Lance's ears and head with his fingers, since Lance was barely big enough to fill out Shiro's cupped hands while curled up in a ball, meaning one hand dwarfed Lance's skull.

There was a knock on the door, and Pidge's voice floated through. “Shiro! Come on, we gotta go look for clues today!” The Green Paladin informed their leader, voice holding traces of anxiety for what they might find.

Riiiight… his team didn't know what had happened to him. He was still slightly apprehensive about letting them know he was a cat, since he still believed they only saw him as the team joke… Then again, his vanishing act had really done a number on morale, what with Pidge's breakdown yesterday and Shiro's nightmare last night, and he knew Hunk was upset, but he remembered bits and pieces of Allura and Coran looking devastated, and Keith being all mopey and emo from when he was first brought out of Blue. Maybe they really did care…?

He was startled out of his thoughts by Shiro setting Lance to the side, onto the pillow, and watched the team leader walk over to his dresser to get proper clothes on. Lance was gone as soon as the shirt disappeared. He did _not_ want to see a naked Shiro while a _cat,_ that was not how it was supposed to work. So he wandered off to see Allura in the main control room, tail swishing as he conversed with Blue about his transformation.

He got lots of concern and frustrated confusion from their bond, and growled quietly. Blue figured it was the plant dust he'd inhaled, and he thought back to the moment he'd started choking. He'd seen that plant before, but where? Why was it familiar? Green with a faint silver sheen, skinny branches, coarse-toothed leaves and white and purple spotted flowers… he _knows_ he's seen it somewhere! Blue was searching through her Earth database for something similar to that description, but that might take a while.

“Hello, Azul! Nice to see you up and about!” _Oh, he'd reached the control room._ He meowed hello at Coran, and jumped up to rest in the ginger Altean's arms, who caught him rather impressively.

“My, you jump as well as an Altean dartung!” _What the quiznak was a dart tongue?_ “Pidge says that they sound a lot like your Earth frogs, if the information she gave me was correct.” Coran explained as he moved over to his control panel, allowing Lance to crawl up his clothes to curl himself over the mustached man's neck and shoulders. Well, that explained that unheard question.

Allura bid him a good morning, and gave him a quick rub behind the ears before moving towards the star chart. She closed it as the other Paladins filed in, everyone already dressed in Paladin armor.

“Well, the Kolkarians have agreed to the alliance against Zarkon. They've also granted us permission to search their planet for Lance as well, though they warn us to be cautious of the forest, as many a Kolkarian have wandered in and never returned. So, unless absolutely necessary, do not stray from the ice patch you said you found Blue at. Keep your masks up at all times, and be wary of everything that moves aside from yourselves.” Allura commanded the team, getting a “Yes Ma'am!” in return.

“Alright, let's move out team. We have a big area to comb, so we'll have to split up. I'll detail the plan over the comms. We can't waste any time, Lance could be hurt and sitting here isn't going to help.” Shiro said as they all moved to their respective elevators that led to the ziplines. Lance mewed at them, _he was right there,_ but they were already gone.

* * *

 

Allura sighed and plopped down onto one of the common room couches, tired. So far, no luck, and Blue kept insistently giving her images of a large green tree covered in white flowers with lilac spots. She figured it was the last place where Lance had been, but only got sadness and grief when she pressed this question to the Lion he had piloted.

She heard a quiet mewing noise, and the creature Pidge had called a kitten and named Azul hopped up onto her lap and meowed louder.

“Ah. Hello, Azul. What are you up to now?” She chuckled as she stroked his back. The feline purred happily, pressing his head into her hand and rippling his spine to meet her palm halfway through each stroke.

She leaned forward to pet him a little better, and some of her hair fell forward and into her lap. Azul's bright blue eyes lit up, and he batted a paw at the silvery white locks playfully.

“Oh? Do you like that, little one?” Allura giggled, picking up the bunch of hair and wiggling it in front of the kitten, enticing it into a game of chase. The kitten pounced.

* * *

 

 _Oh quiznak_ . How the hell did this happen, exactly?!? One minute, Lance was happily playing with Allura's hair, which was _really freaking soft okay,_ and the next he's completely tangled in silvery ropes of fluffy hair and Coran is trying to brush him out while Allura whines, and Blue is laughing so hard inside his head he swears she's rolling around in her hangar _which is not helping the situation!!!_

He mewls in pain when Coran snags his tail with the brush. “Ah, sorry Azul! Goodness, Princess, he's really tangled in here!” Coran chirped cheerfully, obviously trying not to laugh.

Lance hissed as the brush snagged his tail _**again.**_ _Really, Coran? That's sensitive and he kind of needs it for balance, thanks!_ Blue was still laughing, and told him that Black was asking what was so funny as they returned to the Castle, and Blue sent them all the image of Lance as Azul struggling to free himself from Allura's hair. He was then told that the paladins were very confused as to why their Lions were suddenly laughing, much to his embarrassment.

He snorted, already imagining the look on his teammates faces. Sure enough, a few ticks later they were all coming into the common room and bursting into laughter at the sight of Azul stuck in the Allura's tangled rats nest, or rather, cats nest of hair.

Soon Shiro was gently pulling him from Allura's mane, and he purred gratefully and reached up to boop the Black Paladin's throat with his warm kitten nose.

“So, any luck?” Allura asked once she'd gotten her hair to be manageable again. Hunk frowned and shook his head sadly.

“No luck. We combed the entire area, and got nothing.” The Yellow Paladin explained, and Pidge jumped in.

“We did find that one of the trees had a faint smear of blood on it, like he'd punched it or grabbed it and it cut him. Other than that though, nothing. I plan on analyzing the plant cells and pollen I collected from it though. It's weird, because it looks really similar to something we have on Earth, just a whole lot bigger.” She blurted, holding up a few petri dishes and test tubes.

Lance's head shot up, and he scrambled onto Shiro's shoulder to yowl loudly at the objects in the little hacker's hands. The petri dishes had familiar green slices on it that shone faintly, and the test tube was full of that terrifying golden-silver dust.

“Azul? What's wrong?” Shiro looked very concerned. Lance wiggled out of Shiro's hold and bolted over to Pidge, rearing up on his hind legs and yowling at the top of his lungs.

 _Not good, not safe, very dangerous! Don't breathe it in! I don't want you to become like me! It hurts when you breathe it in! Pidge, please! Get rid of it before it hurts you too! Blue, tell Green! Tell the other Lions that you can't breathe it in!_ He thought desperately, and dug his claws into Pidge's legs, forcing her to drop it with a startled yelp. He snatched the bottle before it hit the ground, and tore out of the room as fast as possible.

He ignored the calls of his friends behind him as he fled.

He had to keep them safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // there's your fluff! I left it on a cliffhanger because i'm evil like that ;) Next chapter we return to our regularly scheduled angst ;)


	5. Panicked Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith learns A Few Things.

Lance was grateful that the test tube of pollen was tightly capped as he ran down the hallways, the others chasing him and shouting for him to come back. _No way in_ _**hell** _ _was he letting them accidentally breathe in any of this!_ He did _not_ want Pidge to become a cat too, nor suffer the pain he'd felt while transforming.

 _Where was a place they wouldn't check for him?_ Blue flashed an image of his room in his mind, and he turned left at the correct passageway. He weaved through the hallways and clawed at his door until it opened, and he bolted inside and pricked his ears as the door slid shut behind him.

His room was the same as he'd left it that day, bed still ruffled and his sleep clothes scattered over the sheets. He wriggled his way under the bed, still gripping the vial in his jaws, panting as his eyes darted around, still panicked.

He vividly remembered that burning pain that had ripped him apart and put him back together, and shuddered. Blue tried snapping him out of it by sending a lot of calming, comforting emotions through their bond, but it only helped so much. Vaguely, he wondered if Shiro felt like this whenever he had a flashback. He tucked the vial under his body and rested his head on his paws. Huffing quietly, he pricked his ears to listen for the others.

* * *

Pidge yelped as she dropped the vial, Azul snatching it midair and taking off as if a demon was after him.

“Azul! No! Bad kitty!” Pidge screeched, taking off after the cat in question. Shiro and Keith went with her, their longer legs easily overtaking her stride and she lost both men and cat within the first few hallways. She keeled over and wheezed, cursing her tiny legs and low stamina. Why the hell had Azul done that?!?

Green growled and suddenly shot her a vision; Lance screaming, and the vial of pollen. Blood and ripped clothes. She inhaled sharply, straightening up.

“ _Oh quiznak._ Green, did- Did _Blue_ show you that?” She asked, almost afraid of the answer. Green rumbled confirmation.

“So Blue knows what happened to Lance, and it involves the pollen, doesn't it.” She slid against the wall, sitting on the ground with a thump. Another growl of confirmation.

She placed her head in her hands, trying to calm her breathing. _This whole time,_ they could have _asked_ _Blue._ Sudden realization hit her like a freight train. _Azul._ Azul was somehow the key in all this. She had to find that cat, and then grab Shiro so they could connect to the Blue Lion on the astral plane. She jumped to her feet and ran off to find Allura. She needed to borrow the mice for a minute.

* * *

It took them two days to scan the entire Castle to find Azul. The mice eventually found him, and told Allura that the troublesome kitten was hiding under the bed in Lance's room. Keith was the one sent to grab him.

Squaring his shoulders, the Red Paladin opened the door and strolled in. Kneeling down next the bed, he bagan patting around underneath, hand ungloved in order to feel for fur. His fingers met warm fluff, and he scrambled back as a brown blur shot past him and into the hall. _Oh no you fucking don't!_ Keith thought, lunging and managing to grab onto the kitten's tail. Azul yowled and whirled on Keith, claws digging into his ungloved hand and attempting to bite his fingers.

“Argh! _Come on,_ you annoying furball! You're one of the only clues to finding where Lance is! You and Blue! Do you have _any idea_ how _bad_ it's gotten around here without him?!?” Keith hissed, squirming forward to firmly grip the kitten around his ribcage.

“I'd never say it to his face, but I kind of like when he challenges me to stupid shit! Now I've got no one to mess around with, or race, or drag me from the training room before I become too tired to function or talk to because Shiro has been moping in his room blaming himself since Lance went missing, Pidge has barely slept analyzing the cells of that tree we found blood traces on, Hunk won't stop stress baking, Coran cleans until his hands blister, and Allura is constantly going back and forth talking to the local aliens about where he might have gone!”

Azul had stopped struggling, and was now staring at Keith in something akin to shock. In fact, now that he looked closer, those eyes seemed… really familiar. Wait a second. Azul was a cat, there was no way he'd understand what Keith was saying, much less react...unless…

Azul had been found in Blue, and there had been no possible way for a cat to have gotten into, much less survive alone, without food and water, inside a space lion without someone noticing. Lance still hadn't been found, and there was no trail of blood leading away from Blue or even any tracks to follow. Nobody had gone near or left the Blue Lion. Which meant...

“Wait… Azul, you aren't a cat at all, are you?” Keith breathed, hands going slack. Azul didn't move. Then, slowly, he nodded, ears flattened against his skull.

“Oh _quiznak._ You- Then, you're actually- _Holy shit._ ” Keith's started hyperventilating, suddenly realizing exactly _why_ those eyes looked so familiar. Only one person had that exact shade of ocean blue.

“Lance? Is that you?” He choked, tears welling up in his eyes.

Azul- _No,_ _ **Lance,**_ mewed and nodded again, padding forward to wipe a tear away with his paws. Keith scooped him up and buried his face into that chocolate fur, a mix of angry and relieved tears slipping down his face.

“You _idiot!_ Why didn't you tell us sooner? How the hell did you become a cat anyways?!? Scratch that, how the hell did you become a cat in the first place?!?” The Red Paladin scolded his former human friend, somehow managing to look very very disgruntled with tear tracks on his cheeks.

Red grumbled with him, because Blue had been trying to keep this a secret for a while, since Lance had asked. Lance meowed and scrambled under the bed, nudging the vial of pollen out from the hiding spot and pushed it over to Keith.

Keith quirked an eyebrow and picked up the capped tube, eyeing it warily. “Wait, is this why? Did you freak out on Pidge because this is the stuff that made you all… fluffy?” He asked, as Lance jumped up into his lap and mewed again, nodding furiously.

“I'm guessing you got covered in this stuff, or you breathed it in… wait, why am I still sitting here with you? We gotta tell the others!” Keith yelped, scooping up Lance and booking it the fuck out of the room.

* * *

Everyone was already assembled in Blue's hangar when Keith burst in, holding Lance up Lion King style and yelling at the top of his lungs.

“GUYS HOLY SHIT GUYS YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST FIGURED OUT!!!” Everyone jumped, startled by the sudden noise level from the usually lowkey Paladin. After calming his racing heart, Shiro blinked at Keith.

“Exactly why are you yelling?” He asked, very concerned, because Keith _never_ yelled. _**Ever.** _ It was usually a cause for alarm when he did. Keith grinned and looked up at Blue.

“I think Blue should say it first. She can tell us the full story better than I can. I literally figured it out only a few minutes ago anyways.” He explained, shifting Lance down to settle the cat in his arms.

Blue rumbled, and they all sat down in a circle. Connecting to their Lions, they then focused on Blue, their Lions opening up their own connection with their sister and allowing them into Blue's personal pocket dimension, or astral plane where her spirit resided.

* * *

It was very different from Black's plane, where as Black's pocket dimension was purple and black and surrounded by the stars, Blue's dimension was a blue and white field of ice and snow, yet it wasn't cold at all, but warm and comforting.

The sky wasn't a sky at all, but actually the ocean, soft blue and teal, rippling every now and then. Everything was outlined in deep blue, and Blue herself was sitting in front of all the Paladins, purring.

For some reason, Azul was there too. The kitten purred and bounded over to the larger, robotic feline, rearing up on his hind legs and booping noses with the Voltron Lion, who had also bent down to touch noses with the smaller cat. Keith wasn't surprised at all, he was actually even smirking. Blue rumbled at the team, and settled herself down, the Paladins becoming surrounded by her large paws. With a soft huff, she began telling the story as she had seen it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // aaaaaand cliffhanger! Keith knows!~ Blue has a pretty astral plane/pocket dimension area! I see each Lion as having their own space, not just Black :) each space corresponds to that Lion's area, like Green has a forest, and Yellow has a prairie and Red has a volcanic island or something. Next chapter is Blue Lion POV. :D nd the rest of the team learn about Azul/Lance! Are you excited? I am!


	6. Blue Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue shares the story as she saw it, and everybody learns A Few Things.

She was worried. She could feel the waves of anger and hurt through the bond with her Paladin, so she was already bending down to allow him into her cockpit as soon as he came storming into the room.

His face was as dark as a thunderstorm, expressions flicking between hurt and frustration like flashes of lightning. He climbed in and _begged_ her to leave the Castle, gunning the engines and she took off with no hesitation.

She didn't know where they were going, as all she was getting was that they had to get _away._ He didn't want to be there for the moment, so she complied with his wish. Her thrusters were at full power, and they rocketed over the planet until his anger had given away to hurt and sorrow.

She let him out in a seemingly harmless looking field of flowering trees, and for a moment thought that they looked familiar. They were almost 20 feet tall each, and the flowers would have probably made her sneeze if she had a sense of smell.

Her concern increased when Lance had started asking why he wasn't good enough, and took note of the strange dust falling out of the flowers as he pounded his fist against the tree trunk. He was bleeding now, from his knuckles, and as soon as she heard him cough she was on high alert.

She'd panicked when he started screaming, and used her ice cannon to freeze the offending area as she had an inkling as to what was making her precious little Paladin choke. Then came the violent seizures, and she'd screamed for him to hold on, that she'd get the air to be breathable again, and scooped him up into her muzzle and tilted him around until his back was against the dashboard.

She'd activated her barrier in a terrified attempt to filter the air out, _she couldn't lose another Paladin,_ she _refused_ to lose such a precious light in her life to something as stupid as _dusty air!_

Then she'd heard his bones snapping and rearranging and felt his warm blood splashing everywhere as his body mutated and forced itself into an unnatural shape, and she'd used some of her Quintessence to try and alleviate some of the agony, because that was all she could do for him. She even cooled the cockpit down, hoping the cold would help.

It must have influenced the change somehow, because now he was a miniature version of her Earth form, a tiny lion cub that wasn't a lion.

A cat, her database supplied, and she tentatively tested the bond between her and her little Paladin, relief flooding her body when she felt that it was still there, tinged with pain but standing strong.

She knew he was hurting, so she curled up in on herself, hoping to shield him better. How was she to explain this to the others?

* * *

Lance purred and rubbed his head against each of the Paladin's knees, as they had all sat down during the story. It was more like watching a movie, through the Lion's eyes. Blue rumbled overhead, having finished her tale.

The world shifted, and soon they were back in Blue's hangar, as if they'd never left. Keith blinked clear of the vision first, and ruffled Lance's ears.

“That looked painful, man...” The Red Paladin muttered, and Lance mewed sadly.

Pidge snapped out of it next, and swooped in to steal the kitten from Keith's aggressive rubbing, babbling something about mutations and DNA structures and alien plants, too fast for Lance to keep up with.

Hunk joined in on Pidge's chatter, as Lance dangled from the Green Paladin's arms. Shiro hadn't moved yet, simply staring at Lance with an unreadable expression on his face. Suddenly Pidge gasped.

“Oh my God, I know why that plant looked so familiar!!!” She shrieked, Lance flattening his ears down from the noise.

She started laughing, almost hysterically. Keith and Hunk shared a look, and Hunk gently pulled Lance from the laughing girl's arms.

"Yep, she's officially lost her marbles. The stress and all nighters have finally caught up with her, she's gone." Hunk muttered, a finger scratching underneath the kitten's chin.

“Lance! You- It's!!! Gah! You were transformed by Blue's Quintessence and _alien_ _ **catnip!!!”**_ Pidge howled, tears streaming down her face as she rolled on the ground laughing.

Keith's jaw dropped, and he started laughing too. He couldn't stop, he just couldn't withstand the irony. That and he was a little delirious from a sleep deprivation.

Shiro had gotten up at this point, and seemed to be better at holding in his laughter at the revelation. “Well, at least we know where you've been this whole time.” He chuckled, and Lance mewed in agreement before his stomach growled.

"Oh! You haven't eaten for a while! Hang on, let's go get you some food, buddy!” Hunk yelped, then took off for the kitchen, Lance letting out a startled yowl as the Samoan teen moved faster than you'd think possible, leaving the others in Blue's hangar.

* * *

Lance purred as he munched on the weird space turkey bacon, tail twitching. Sweet, salty, blessed space bacon. He didn't think anything could top this kind of bliss. Aside from head pats, but digressing.

“So, as a cat, you can still understand human language?” Oh yeah, Hunk was questioning him excitedly while Pidge was off getting supplies to run tests on him. Shiro and Keith were currently explaining the situation with Allura and Coran, so Lance was left to eat in relatively normal peace.

He nodded at Hunk, chewing on a particularly rough piece. Pidge burst into the kitchen, holding up a ball of alien yarn and some weird machines tucked in her arms.

"I got the stuff! Hey, Lance, can you try to resist playing with this string? I wanna see how strong your instincts as a cat are.” The excitable Green Paladin chirped, holding up a piece of silver blue string and jiggling it near Lance's head.

He gave her an unimpressed glare, the human side of him balking at actually playing with string. But the cat side of him, one that had been coming out in full force lately ever since the debacle with Allura's hair, that side was watching the string intently.

Lance's paws twitched, and without thinking he went into a cat-crouch, wiggling his haunches before lunging and biting the string, rolling around and snagging it on his claws as Pidge giggled and pulled him to and fro since his claws were caught in the alien thread. He growled and rolled onto his back, hind claws kicking at air and snatching on the string while he bit at it fiercely. Pidge was overjoyed at this.

“Holy quiznak! Blue must have used more Quintessence than I first thought! You're really acting just like a cat!” She said happily as she messed with her tiny, fluffy teammate.

“Well, I think we should find a cure and soon. Who knows when Zarkon will attack next...” Hunk said as he fried up more space bacon. Pidge nodded.

“The lab I set up is already running the first few scans on that pollen that changed Lance into a kitten. I plan on testing it further once I'm done here. My hypothesis is that the original shape was supposed to be similar to a feline, but because of Blue and the fact that Lance isn't from the planet Kolkar like the Kolkarians are, it merely changed him into something similar.” Pidge explained, pushing her glasses up and tugging the string from Lance's paws.

Lance pouted as best he could as a cat, and rolled back over to continue munching on his food. His ears pricked at the sound of the door opening, and decided to ignore that. He also ignored the footsteps heading for him, and the sudden shadow nearby.

He did, however, very much notice and like Shiro's human hand running down his head and neck as he ate.

“Allura says she's going to talk to the Kolkarian's about the plant that made Lance like this, so until then we're supposed to stay here and keep an eye on him. Pidge, since that pollen is what made Lance change, I want to be there when you test it, just in case you accidentally get some on you or anything. We can't have _two_ cat Paladins, especially when you're the best shot for a cure.” The Black Paladin explained, scratching behind one of Lance's ears.

Pidge grinned, her glasses shining bright enough to obscure her eyes. “You can count on me, Boss!”

Lance purred a laugh at the sound of Hunk facepalming in the background.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //thats it! I have officially gotten writers block! I don't know when it will go away, but don't expect an update for a few days….. this was all I could finish this chapter with, pls forgive me…… so yeah. Have some cat Lance and Space Catnip and oh man I need to go lie down or something sheesh…..


	7. A Crushing Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro has a problem, Pidge is a nerdy geek, and Lance just wants a break.

Shiro was internally screaming. _Very loudly._ His head was actually ringing at this point, with Black laughing like _crazy_ in the back of his mind. He was currently pacing his room, face redder than Keith’s Lion.

Lance was Azul. Lance was a _cat._ The very same cat that had calmed him from a nightmare and slept _in his bed_ on his _chest._ Black very kindly told him that he should calm himself before he overheated and fainted. He kept pacing, half sure there were marks from his shoes on the ground from the rate at which he was going, back and forth in an oval. He stopped pacing and hid his face in his hands with a groan.

He was not handling this crush well at all. At first, during the whole Balmera incident, he’d just been worried over a teammate, but then he’d felt something _flutter_ in his heart when Lance had come out of that coma to shoot Sendak. And then it slowly evolved from there into a full blown crush with every laugh, every smile, and though he’d tried to push it down, it never worked, and eventually he’d wanted to start pulling a Keith and punch every alien Lance flirted with in the face out of pure impulse and spite.

Which was why he hadn’t wanted Lance on Kolkar at the alliance meeting, because he didn’t know if he could handle seeing Lance flirt with _another_ alien again. He didn’t think he’d be able to stop himelf from bitch-slapping someone with his activated arm if he saw one more damn sentient being actually _flirting back_ with the gorgeous Blue Paladin.

He smacked his head into the wall at his own thoughts. With a sigh, he decided to go work off some of these emotions at the training deck, then go check on Pidge. He rubbed his forehead, and headed out.

* * *

Pidge dashed about the room, setting up testing areas and hooking up wires to Green, her laptop running a hundred codes a minute as she processed the pollen, and Lance was exhausted just watching her. So, he settled for sprawling lazily across the warm keyboard of the laptop and purred at the heat spreading through his fur, and fell into a sort of half-asleep state, ears pricked and listening to Pidge babble to herself in Science mumbo-jumbo.

“Okay Lance! I need you to step into this scanner real quick.” Pidge explained, motioning to one of the weird metal boxes that were open at both ends, and was hooked up to the computer.

Lance grumbled and got up from his napping spot, walking towards the box and stepping through, moving slowly as Pidge instructed him. Pidge hummed and sent the results to Coran, who was using a tablet to communicate with the youngest Paladin from down on Kolkar, and began flipping through a microscope with the pollen on a slide.

Lance stood nearby, ready to shove Pidge aside in she accidentally breathed it in. He planned to bite her if she leaned in too closely. Or maybe he could grab the pollen? No, that would make it airborne, amd he couldn't filter the air. Wait, hold on a minute. There was a way to filter the air Pidge breathed in!

Lance jumped down, padded over to where she’d left her packet of surgical masks with Green, and started nudging it towards his tiny teammate.

Pidge looked up, and grinned. “Oh yeah! Thanks Lance. I almost forgot to put one of those on. Good thing Coran worked it out when I told him I needed something like this. The replication part of the ship is fascinating! I’ll have to see how that works later…” She said cheerfully, then slid on a mask over her mouth and nose, testing her breathing for a minute before nodding and going back to the slide, Lance staying close by on the little table.

“Hmm… yeah, looks like this was made to specifically alter genetic structures into it’s most primitive form, and I guess the most primitive form on Kolkar is some sort of feline-esque creature.” Pidge muttered, stepping back from the microscope and beginning to pace back and forth in front of Lance, who was now lying on the table, tail twitching idly as he watched her move back and forth.

“But, thanks to Blue and her Quintessence, plus you not being from Kolkar, it just edited you into a cat by tearing apart your current- at the time, at least- cellular structure and rebuilt it from scratch… Lance, dude, holy shit. How are you even alive?!?” Pidge yelped, turning to her fluffy companion and scooping him up, shaking him in astonishment. Lance hissed, disliking the sudden movement. His ears pricked up when he heard the door slide open and Shiro walked in.

Pidge whirled on him, trapping Lance in her arms and leaving his hind legs and tail to dangle free, the cat himself looking very uncomfortable by this.

“Shiro! Man, you won’t believe this! Lance shouldn’t even be alive! The pollen doesn’t just change your DNA, it completely strips it down and rebuilds everything from scratch!!! His entire cellular structure was rearranged in less than an hour ‘cuz he got covered in so much pollen! Blue’s Quintessence merely made the change happen faster because he couldn’t feel it, which I guess was Blue’s primary objective when she did it, but it also kept him alive! If a normal human went through that, they’d be dead!” Pidge trilled, as Shiro steadily got paler and paler at the news.

“Uh… lucky Lance, I guess?” The Black Paliadin asked, somehow keeping the shudder out of his voice.

Pidge let Lance go and turned back to her computer, quickly typing out notes. Lance grumbled at her and trotted over to where Shiro had slid against the wall to sit down and process the information. He jumped into Shiro’s lap and mewed questioningly, worried at Shiro’s pale face and shaky breaths. He was immediately cradled in two arms, and a face was buried into his fur, _again._ They really had a thing for his fur, didn’t they?

“So I pretty much almost got you killed.” The words that were muttered into his spine had his ears flicking back to make sure he had heard correctly.

“I am so _sorry,_ Lance. This is all my fault… I made you feel bad enough that you ran off and got caught up in all of this… I should have tried to be more considerate of your feelings and listened and been more encouraging… maybe then you’d still be human and not…” The leader of Voltron let out a shaky breath. Lance mewed and wriggled until he could nuzzle Shiro’s face, purring up a storm and trying to convey that it wasn’t his fault.

Blue rumbled in agreement, though she did also add that he should have included Lance in more missions than he did. _Overprotective much?_

He huffed at her for that. There was no way in Hell, Heaven or high water that Shiro felt the same as Lance. Nope. Nu-uh. No way. Blue laughed, saying that he was certainly funny if he believed that. Lance lashed his tail and told her to hush, grumbling under his mental breath.

Suddenly, Coran burst into the room, half dragging Allura and a vial of purple shimmery liquid.

“We’ve figured it out! Pidge! I need some help with this, but I believe that if we create a batch of this that’s diluted for human use, we can cure Lance! If we manage to figure that out, then Allura can use her ability of Quintessence manipulation and reverse the change!” The excited Altean trilled loudly, Allura nodding in agreement as she pulled out of her Advisor’s grasp. Pidge looked up and nodded excitedly.

“Perfect! I was just running calculations on what exactly would be needed to dull down any pain felt during the reversal process.” She chirped, pushing up her glasses and grinning. She looked over at Shiro, who was looking much better now.

“Shiro, hold onto Lance for a minute while we set everything up?” She asked, smiling at the nod the Black Paladin gave her in response.

Both man and cat watched in fascination as Pidge and Coran talked biology and schematics for diluting the antidote, as apparently that plant, called Felisiviny, had turned plenty of unwary Kolkarians into a cat like creature called a devecias, which were like a cross between a lynx and a tiger and a German Shepherd with scarlet macaw feathers along its ears and tail, along the jaw fringe too.

Then, Shiro and Lance were dragged to the med pods, where Coran programed one to the proper dilution percentage, fed in half the vial, and pulled Lance from a reluctant Shiro’s arms and started up the med pod.

Allura got ready, as the antidote had to be breathed in, and Lance was set at the bottom of the pod. He looked up, mewing in concern.

“We’ll see you soon, buddy. Don’t be afraid. Allura will fix you right up, okay?” Shiro soothed, giving Lance one last head rub before standing back and letting the pod seal shut. Lance yowled and put his paws up on the glass, panicking as purple mist flooded the chamber.

“Allura, now! For as long as you can, just picture Lance as his normal human self.” Coran instructed, as Allura glowed with the golden light of Quintessence.

She held out her hands, and focused on Lance. Pidge secretly hit the mute button on the pod, because she knew this was gonna hurt, and she didn’t want to be haunted by Lance’s screams. Shiro tapped his metal fingers against his arm, worried and pale again.

* * *

 

It was a mere 12 hours before Allura gave out, her powers still relatively new. She panted and slumped to the ground, wheezing and exhausted.

“I- I have done what I could, but manipulating two similar streams of Quintessence that are deeply entertwined is harder than it first seems.” She explained as Coran helped her to her feet.

Keith and Hunk had wandered down during this, and everyone waited with baited breath (and Hunk with an extra pair of boxers for Lance) as the pod opened up and spilled purple mist.

Shiro was the first one forward as a human shape fell out of the pod and into his arms, Hunk right next to him and draping a blanket over the shaking form that was clutching onto Shiro like a lifeline.

But something was off.

Shiro inhaled sharply as a soft, fluffy shorthaired chocolate colored tail with lighter brown stripes brushed against his leg, and pointy cat ears flicked up and heard the noise he made.

Lance, human yet with cat ears and a tail, who stopped shaking and went limp, unconscious. Shiro really hoped he wasn’t blushing right now, because if it wasn’t the cutest thing he’d ever seen in his life then he might as well shoot himself out into space this very second.

“Oh dear. Perhaps I did not untangle the knot of energy as well as I thought I did.” Allura murmured from the back.

The shocked silence was broken by Pidge and Hunk’s twin cooing noises and Keith’s quiet sigh.

“Well fuck. How are we gonna explain this one to him?” The Red Paladin asked, eyes rolling upwards as of to invoke God's pity.

Shiro really wished the universe would give him a break here.

Black laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // *RISES FROM THE ASHES OF WRITERS BLOCK LIKE A PROUD AND BLOODSTAINED WARRIOR* I LIVE~! Also I come bearing Shance and cat eared Lance :) So uh, how is Lance gonna react to all of this? I dunno, you’ll have to wait and see ;)


	8. Black And Blue And Warm All Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shance Fluff and Pidge Shenanigans. (Happy Birthday Pidge! April 3rd)

Lance woke up to the feeling of a dull ache in his body. His muscles felt like they'd been stretched with a taffy machine, and his skin tingled strangely.

Wow, he really had a bad habit of waking up like this, didn't he? Yawning, he stretched out, feeling cramped and really warm, tail curling behind him as he flicked his ears and looked around sleepily. He was in the med bay, of course, since he clearly remembered being put in a pod and then breathing in that weird mist that tasted like that one time he'd eaten a sparkly champagne flavored cupcake with vanilla filling and an odd twist of blackberry.

He was currently wrapped up in a blanket, and Pidge had somehow gotten her little frame to lean against his chest, and Hunk had him from behind, and Keith was leaning on his shoulder, and Shiro was practically nuzzling his neck from the opposite side of where Keith was and _wait a fucking minute he wasn't this big a few hours ago?!?_

Blinking, he managed to wiggle an arm out and stared. Human arm. Human fingers. Human nails. Familiar, smooth tan skin. He patted his head, and found that he now had hair growing over where his human ears should have been, instead finding real cat ears on top of his skull. He experimentally twitched his tail, feeling that a hole had been ripped into his boxers to accommodate the extra appendage, and tried very hard not to scream in panic and accidentally wake up the others.

Well, at least he had _some_ form of clothing on. Shiro sighed and wrapped an arm, his metal one, Lance noted, over the Cuban teen's chest and snuggled closer, making Lance blush bright red. Hesitantly, Lance rested his own head on top of Shiro's, a contented, quiet purr gently rumbling through his chest as he fell back asleep, surrounded by his friends and crush.

If this was a dream, it was probably the nicest one he'd had since living in space.

* * *

 

He woke up again what seemed like a few minutes later, lying horizontally on something soft and staring at a familiar white ceiling. Familiar scents engulfed him, but they were faint.

Oh, he was in his room. His ears twitched as he heard footsteps outside his door, pacing. Yawning quietly, Lance slid out of bed and padded over to his dresser for a shirt, his feet making almost no noise as he opened the closet door and tugged on a slightly larger than usual blue shirt.

Humming sleepily, he swished his tail and opened his door, blinking at the Black Paladin that had been almost guarding his door. Shiro jumped slightly when Lance appeared in the doorway, and he almost had a flush on his cheeks...? Nah, he must be imagining it. Sleep-drunk and whatnot.

“Oh, Lance! Good to see you're up on two legs again.” Shiro said brightly, trying not to look worried. Lance huffed and stumbled forward. He had woken up cold, having grown used to fluffy fur keeping out the cooled air of the Castle, and remembered how warm that giant group cuddle had been.

He was tired, and cold, and really _really_ wanted _someone_ to pet his ears again. He let out a content rumble when Shiro reached to steady him, and went limp in his arms, tail swishing and purring up a storm. Whatever that was in that antidote was kind of like a sleep drug with side affects to the poor human-cat hybrid, and he wasn't exactly all human in his brain yet either.

“Shiro, m'cold...” He whined sleepily from the mismatched arms, one cooler than the other.

He pronounced the Black Paladin's name more like Shi-raow than Shi-row, as apparently his vocal chords were unused to doing anything other than cat-speak plus the fact he was still part cat, giving him a speech impediment.

He clung to Shiro as if he was afraid to let him go, so Shiro maneuvered him back into his room and attempted to leave Lance behind on the bed, and Lance panicked, suddenly seeing an image of Shiro turning his back and walking out on the team, vanishing again like he did so many months ago. When the Black Lion trapped Shiro in the astral plane to keep him out of the lingering affects of Zarkon's Quintessence.

_No no **no,** his human **can't** leave, he was cold and needed affection and he **can't** leave him behind because he's been so **lonely** and when Shiro vanished back then he had been so **cold** and **sad** and- _

He yowled loudly and clung to Shiro tightly, claws digging into the fabric of his vest and causing Shiro to jump in surprise.

“No, please, stay, don't leave me behind-” He whimpered, ears flat against his head and his tail lashing in agitation, clearly seeing something Shiro could not.

Shiro quickly sat down on the bed and allowed Lance to hug him close, a hand absently stroking the catboy's ears in a soothing motion, and Lance hiccuped quietly, nuzzling Shiro's chest and tugging him until he was lying down. Lance took the opportunity to curl up over Shiro's chest, pinning him to the bed. Like he had done a few nights ago when Shiro had suffered through the nightmare of losing Lance to something he had no name for.

The quiet hiccups turned back into purrs as Shiro kept rubbing Lance's scalp soothingly, and since Shiro hadn't slept in over 12 hours over worry for Lance, and not much sleep the nights before that either, he gave into the exhaustion and dropped off to sleep right after Lance.

* * *

Pidge was in the doorway, sneakily taking pictures of the two Paladins asleep on the bed, grinning to herself and mentally cackling. At this rate, her calculations would be correct and she'd win the betting pool, _so suck on that Allura!_ She took a few more photos and hurried off to share with the others.

* * *

 

“Hmm…… I give it under seven quintants at this rate!” Coran chirped cheerfully as Pidge proudly flicked through the images.

“So, a week? Nah man, Lance is dense as a rock. I mean, he's my bro and all, but he can be oblivious as all hell when it comes to someone crushing on him. Especially when he likes them back. He has this weird thing where he puts his crush on some really high pedestal and puts himself down because he thinks he doesn't deserve them. I give it two weeks, and that Shiro confesses first.” Hunk said, folding his arms over his chest and nodding with an air of finality.

Allura hummed thoughtfully. “True, but Lance always tries to prove himself. I say less than your 'two weeks'. Also that he blurts it out accidentally. Plus, I do believe that cats on your planet have no sense of danger? He might very well say it without thinking.”

Pidge grinned. “I say in under a week. You should have seen them, besides the pictures. They were practically wrapped around each other and I even saw Shiro smile for like, a half a second! I'm gonna go with Shiro confesses first!” She argued playfully, and Keith smirked.

“I have to agree with Pidge. Shiro can be a pining mess sometimes, God knows how many times he's whined to me about how cute Lance is on a near daily basis, but he would definitely tell Lance first before it became a problem or something. Ya know, for all our sakes. I'm also about ready to smother him with a pillow if he keeps pacing the training deck and leaving scuff marks on the floors while he rambles on and on about whatever mission Lance was on. It's a _training room,_ not a blab about how pretty Lance is when he's fighting the enemy room.” He groaned, leaning back in his chair.

Pidge giggled and Hunk looked amused. Allura sighed. “Well, I do hope they get this feelings problem all sorted out! Before it affects Voltron.”

_**Rule** **#** **1 of the Shance Betting Pool:** any and all developments must be photographed to make the betting fair. - Founder, Pidge Holt _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> // hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updates! I got LoZ: Breath Of The Wild for my birthday (April 1st, no joke) and i've been playing that for a while! I also got a phone! Yay me! So here, have an update! :D


	9. Kitten Mode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shance, some smells, Lance can't talk properly, and a bit of fun at the end ;)

Lance woke up, feeling much better than the day previous, and hummed quietly as he blinked awake, swishing his tail. He still felt a little smaller than before, seeing as his shirt was a bit bigger on his body than its usual slightly loose fit. Probably a side effect of being stuffed into a tiny body and then stretching back to full size. He wasn't fully back to human yet, so it was understandable that he'd feel different.

He was on top of something firm and warm and yet not all that uncomfortable. Not to mention is smelled really freakin’ good, like that smell you get from dust after rain. He also detected lavender and a really faint undertone of black coffee. He purred and snuggled closer, shutting his eyes again and curling his tail happily as he drifted back off. He was really tired for some reason, plus he felt lazy and didn’t wanna get back up…

He pouted when he felt his pillow move… wait. Pillows aren’t supposed to move.

“Uh, Lance? I need to get up…” His ears perked up and he lifted his head to stare into familiar dark gray eyes. Oh. _Oh._ Well _shit._ Lance felt his face heat up and he scrambled to get off of Shiro’s chest, falling onto the floor with a startled yelp.

"Oh quiznak Shiro I’m so sorry!” He squeaked, hiding his face in his hands to cover up his bright crimson cheeks.

Shiro sat up and slid out of the bed, controlling his blush better than Lance thankfully.

"Um, it’s alright. You got pretty upset last night when I tried to leave you in your room, so I guess I just accidentally fell asleep trying to calm you down… Sorry about that. I’m uh, gonna go get breakfast. I’ll see you later?” He phrased it as a question, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Lance squeaked an affirmative from the ground, and Shiro nodded before walking out of the room.

As soon as Shiro was halfway down the hall he let the blush spread over his face and let out a long, deep exhale, Lance's bashful face filling his mind. Better stop by the showers first.

* * *

Lance uncurled from his position on the floor and decided to get dressed, and stood up on shaky legs, tail swaying to balance him out.

“Oh my God that was so embarrassing!” He whined to himself as he sorted through his shirts before ultimately deciding ‘Fuck it’ and pulled on some sweatpants, but not before tearing a hole for his tail in the back. Though, for Altean sweatpants, the fabric sure was flimsy… or his claws were sharper than he first thought.

Huffing, he stalked out of his room and paused, sniffing the air and allowing the smell of sunflowers, apples and nutmeg to lead him to where Pidge, Keith and Hunk were chatting in the common room, something about improving Red’s flamethrower.

“Hey guys! What are you chatting about out here?” He asked, tail swishing as he plopped down next to the source of the sunflower smell, Hunk. Settling into the cushions, Lance yawned and arched his spine, hoping to get the last of the aches in his body out.

" _They_ are talking some kind of science garble, I'm just trying to wake up. Didn't sleep too good last night." Keith grumbled, stretching his arms over his head in a yawn.

“Same. But man, have you guys always smelled like this?” He asked, tilting his head at the Yellow Paladin.

“What do you mean? Is it a bad smell? I just showered this morning!” Hunk yelped, suddenly horrified.

Lance laughed. “No, man, I mean right now you smell like sunflowers and that warm, earthy smell you get in the springtime, and snickerdoodles or sugar cookies of some sort. It’s actually really nice.” He reassured his large pal, who relaxed.

Pidge tilted her head at him. “Wait, what do I smell like? And since when are you poetic? Also, what’s up with your voice? It’s all… weird? You aren’t using your L’s right, you keep rolling them into R's and W's. Wait, is it because you have cat vocals?!?” Her eyes gleamed brightly with curiousity, reaching up to adjust her glasses.

Lance shrugged. “Well you, ya little gremlin, smell like fresh cut grass and kinda floral, I'm guessing lilies? Of course you also reek of machine grease and cotton and that smell you get just before lightning hits, you know, that crackly almost spicy smell? That. Oh, yeah, and nutmeg too.” he listed off, and even Keith looked intrigued.

“And before you ask, Mullet-Man, you smell like campfire smoke and sunlight mixed with cinnamon and apples. Oh, and a touch of caramel for some reason.” He beamed proudly, but blanched when Keith smirked.

“What about Shiro?” The Red Paladin asked, and Pidge and Hunk backed him up with matching smirks.

“Oh, uh, well,-” He stammered, not noticing Shiro, Allura and Coran in the doorway behind him. “He smells like dust after a rainstorm, and lavender and black coffee with vanilla… also kinda warm, like just how warmth smells? But also kinda like the wind? It’s a little hard to describe…” The Blue Paladin fidgeted in place, ears swiveling as Allura entered the room.

“How interesting. Did you recently learn this, because of your part feline nose?” Lance jerked to look over at the princess.

“Oh my god Arrura you startled me!” he mewled, hair fluffed up and tail lashing in agitation. Allura raised an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong with your voice, Lance?” She asked, a bit concerned. She had no idea what cat like tendancies and habits looked like, so she was going to have to learn fast.

“That’s what I said!” Pidge yelped, throwing up her arms in exasperation. Lance snickered at her reaction, while Coran and Allura shared a look. Shiro, meanwhile, had way too many thoughts going through his head, despite his earlier shower, and coughed into his fist to get everyone’s attention.

“Well, I’m glad we’re all in one place, because we just got a transmission from the Olkari and The Blade Of Marmora. A meeting has been called to discuss the matter of some major Galran outposts that have been causing trouble recently.” The Leader of Voltron stated, eyes lingering on the way Lance’s cat ears swiveled to catch his words.

Allura motioned them all to the main control room, and pulled up the star map once everyone was inside. “We’ve agreed to meet on an uninhabited planet a few galaxies away, to discuss a plan of action to take down these outposts. Lance, you don’t have to come if you don’t feel up to it.” The Altean Princess said kindly, nodding to indicate Lance's… condition.

Before Lance could speak up, Pidge jumped in. “Wait, the Olkari are gonna be there too? They have that connection with nature thing! Maybe they can help us with a cure for Lance!” The Green Paladin explained, eyes sparkling.

“Since it was a plant that made Lance this way, maybe they have a way to reverse engineer the process further and leave Lance completely human again!” Hunk joined in, gripping the edge of the couch.

Lance’s eyes widened. True, being a cat had been weird, and his current state wasn’t really what he’d like to be, but he did have to admit that being part cat was kinda cool. Vaguely he wondered if Keith felt like this, being half Galra. He nodded to Allura, grinning.

“I’m up for a flight anytime! I kinda missed flying Blue.” He admitted with a shrug, and felt Blue purr in agreement in the back of his mind.

Shiro nodded. “Right. Once we’ve wormholed to the location, suit up and head out in your Lions.” He said, and everyone scrambled for the Castle's main control unit.

Allura stepped up to her pilot's stand, preparing the wormhole for a jump. "It might be a little rough, the area is known for clashing electric energies." She warned as she drove the Castle through the wormhole.

Lance flattened his ears back and gripped the seat as the jump was made, tail lashing since for some reason he felt really thrown off balance, like when you were on that spinny carnival ride that used gravity and force to spin you around. Tilt-A-Whirl, he remembered, and let out a discontented murraowing noise as the ship stabalized and he could get his equilibrium back. Apparently having sensitive cat ears meant you were more sensitive to wormhole jumps.

"Alright, we’re heading into orbit now! Paladins, to your Lions!” Allura commanded, and Lance jumped out of his seat, nearly vibrating with excitement at the thought of flying again, pushing down the sudden dizziness from getting up too fast and tugging on his armor before he paused. His tail! It was going to be squished and cramped in the suit!

Lucky him, he had almost forgotten that the suits adjusted to the wearer, and suddenly there was a hole in the suit for his tail to squeeze through, the edges of the suit sealing of comfortably around the base. He swished his tail experimentally for a moment before deciding he felt comfortable and jumped into his zipline. Blue was purring with so much anticipation that he could have sworn she was actually vibrating and causing the groind to shake.

He slid into the pilot seat, a little startled that the cockpit was sparkling clean and blood free. Blue hummed and sent him an image of Pidge and Shiro cleaning up all the dried stains, Shiro looking pale and more than a little exhausted, while Pidge had a grim determination set on her face as she scrubbed.

“ _When we get Lance back, the first thing he’d do is probably berate us for not taking care of Blue in his absence.” Pidge murmured, wringing out a towel. Shiro chuckled wryly and nodded._

_“Honestly, I wouldn’t care if he flirted with Allura, at least we’d hear his voice again and know he’s safe.” The older man sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Pidge smiled._

_“Yeah, but you know? He wouldn’t just tell us off for not keeping Blue clean, he’d probably scold you for not getting enough rest, and pull Keith out of the training room for some fresh air and tend to his bruises while clicking his tongue like an exasperated mother with a troublesome child. He’d pull Hunk from the kitchen and yell something about having a bro spa day, and he’d drag me from my computer to join because I’m his friend and we were the original Garrison Trio, and he’d tell jokes and make us laugh… He’d rope Coran into spilling some stories from Altea, and have Allura listen in too, maybe braid her hair? We’d all get pulled into story time, and he’ll flail his arms as he talks about some silly story involving his family, and just make us all feel better.”_

_Pidge sniffled and rubbed her sleeve across her face. Shiro moved over to put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find him, Pidge. I promise.”_

Lance came out of the vision when the Hangar door began opening, an alarm warning the Castle that the Lions were ready to fly. Shaking his head, he slid on his helmet, flattening his ears down to fit underneath comfortably, and ran his hands over the controls while Blue purred excitedly.

“Ready to fly again, Beautiful?” he teased, already knowing the answer as he started her engine and his gorgeous girl roared to life quite literally, standing on all fours and her rockets flaring to life.

“Right, meet you guys on planet! Bet I’ll get there first Keith!” He yelled into the comms as he gunned the engine, Blue flying out into the atmosphere of the planet.

“Oh no you won’t!” Keith shot right back, Red flying into view as Lance laughed as Blue’s joy at being able to fly again filled him, God how he had missed this.

“Alright you two, stay close. We only just got you back Lance, so no wandering off!” Shiro scolded lightly, rolling his eyes at the sarcastic “Yes sir!” he got in response from the Red and Blue Paladins.

Keith slowed down a little, while Lance grinned and had Blue loop around the Red Lion playfully, tapping her head with a paw before dashing off, yelling “Tag! You’re it!” as he flew off to the sound of Keith’s sputtering and growl of challenge.

The Blade of Marmora weren’t there yet anyway, and the Olkari were barely entering the galaxy, so what’s a little harm in playing?

Blue dodged all of Red’s attempts to tag her back, and actually shot behind the Green Lion to avoid the collision course. Red smacked into Green and Blue dodged out of the way, Lance giggling like crazy.

“Pidge is it now!” He voiced cheerfully, and could practically _feel_ Pidge smirking.

“Oh it is _on!”_ The girl cried, immediately turning on Hunk and Yellow.

“Pidge, no, do _not_ drag me into this. Pidge! No!” Hunk pleaded, but the Green Paladin had no mercy for her teammate and slammed into the slower Lion, laughing wickedly as she flew off.

“Hunk’s it! Hunk’s it!” Lance cheered, absolutely beside himself with amusement.

Hunk groaned, before doing a sudden barrel roll and smacking into the Black Lion. “Sorry Shiro! Your turn to be it!” Hunk yelped as he sped off.

Shiro chuckled and rolled his shoulders. “Okay, I’m game for this. Get ready to lose!” He said, Black growling in playful challenge. He immediately took off after the Lion closest to him, Lance, who yowled and sped off to hide behind Hunk.

Allura and Coran watched the Paladins playing around with fond amusement, glad that at least some of the stress of the past week was being alleviated now that Lance was back.

He really was more important to the team than he realized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //ending this chapter here! Next up, The Blade Of Marmora, an irritating Olkari scientist, a new Second-In-Command for Kolivan, and Jealous Overprotective Shiro! See ya next chapter my dudes! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ


	10. Not a Chapter, Just a Note

Hi!

So, this is probably my most popular fic, and I don’t know why exactly.

But good news! I’m going to be editing the fic, and posting a new chapter soon!

Life has been... rough, lately. I got kicked out of my moms house, I lost the computer I was writing this fic on, which meant every draft, every piece of work I’d been making with my soul poured into it, was deleted. Gone with the hardware it was stored in. My motivation to write was thrown in the trash with it.

But, I got back on my feet, started reading again, started studying writing styles again (Anne Bishop and Patricia Briggs are my heroes in that regard), started practicing again, little by little.

You may have noticed the new fic I made a little while ago. That’s still a work in progress.

I’ll be dividing my attention between finally finishing this fic with the ending it deserves and giving my other story an action packed adventure. I’ve never tried writing action scenes, I’m more prone to acting them out in my head rather than writing them down.

So yeah. New chapter soon, I promise!

Chapter Ten will be lots of fun for my fellow Shance shippers!

Seasons five, six and seven gave me a LOT of canon material to work with, but I’ll keep this as an alternate timeline where we don’t have the Lion switch and Shiro never died, thus no Kuron. I do plan to have Krolia and Lotor in here somewhere, possibly future chapters. I don't know. This might just end up an incident with Lance being a cat.

Hope you guys like the new chapter when it comes out at some point! But first, I'm going to be rewriting and editing the current chapters before I even attempt to try Chapter Ten.

Yeah. Sorry for the long wait!

**Author's Note:**

> //thats a wrap for chapter 1!!! next time is probably Pidge POV, instead of this weird all over the place POV i've been doing lately. Next time, kitty Lance gets tangled into things he shouldn't, and Shiro is an absolute wreck. Langst is kind of fun to write, ngl. *yawns * well, i'm going to get some sleep now, hope you enjoyed! I'm gonna go post this on AO3, too :) Night! (or morning, afternoon, whenever.)


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